Darlington County, municipal leaders discuss outlook

DARLINGTON - Leaders from Darlington County and its four municipalities said the state of the county and the cities remains good, despite difficult economic conditions.

The officials spoke at the Greater Darlington Chamber of Commerce’s annual State of the County Luncheon Wednesday and Pee Dee Electric Cooperative.

“The state of our county is good,” Darlington County Council Chairman Wesley Blackwell told the gathering.

Blackwell said county council members got through an arduous budget process without raising property taxes this year.

He said council felt it was important to hold the line on taxes in the current economic crunch.

“We appreciate all of our county employees who did not get raises this year,” he added.

“Darlington County is in the minority of counties that does not have to borrow operating capital before tax revenue starts coming in,” he said.

Blackwell said state aid to the county was cut by about $1 million for this budget year.

The county was able to save about $600,000 in expenses to improve its construction and demolition landfill using in-house county labor.

In addition, recycling efforts generated about $120,263 in revenue for the county, Blackwell said.

The county is undertaking an effort to eliminate abandoned mobile homes in the county, he said.

Blackwell also pointed to the efforts of the Darlington County Economic Development Partnership.

On the down side, he said, is the condition of the Darlington County Courthouse. He said the courthouse needs to be renovated or replaced with a new one but said financial constraints and the weak economy will prevent that for now.

A consulting firm put the price of a new courthouse at about $33 million, Blackwell said.

“It needs improvement, but money is a problem with that,” he said.

Hartsville Mayor David McFarland, Darlington Mayor Tony Watkins, Society Hill Mayor Valencia Thomas and Lamar Economic Development and Planning Director Victor Pizzurro each said their municipalities face the same financial difficulties that other cities and towns face.

McFarland highlighted Hartsville’s success with the development of Byerly Park and Burry Park. Hartsville, he said, chose to put an emphasis on tourism and he said that is paying off in its economic impact. “It’s working well,” he said.

He pointed to work going on currently for the construction of a new Hampton Inn & Suites Hotel in downtown Hartsville, which is scheduled for completion next year.

He said the city is beginning a push for greater annexation.

Watkins gave an update on the renovation of the recently reopened McLellan Building, a major piece of Darlington’s downtown revitalization effort. The project represents an investment of $1.6 million in the downtown, he said, and is the second phase a $6 million downtown project that has brought 34 loft apartments and five new retail spaces to downtown.

He said the success of the effort is the result of public-private partnership between the city and Landmark Assets, a private developer based in Winston-Salem, N.C.

Watkins said the city passed a $7.8 million budget for the current year without raising property taxes or water and sewer rates.

Watkins said a new 2 percent hospitality tax on prepared foods and beverages has generated revenue that has allowed the city to make improvements to Williamson Park, the old Carnegie Library building which is being renovated for use as a museum and the former B.A. Gary Middle School gymnasium, which he said will allow the city to offer more recreation opportunities to residents.

Thomas said Society Hill is focusing on improving the health of its citizens by bringing mobile health screenings to the community.

In addition, she said, the community hopes to break ground on a new public library in November.

The recent Taste of Society Hill raised $6,000 for the town, which she said is being used to make improvements.

She said the town is working to develop partnerships with other entities and agencies to improve the quality of life in the small town.

Pizzurro said Lamar is looking at boosting its annexation effort as it seeks to grow. He said the town has received a grant for sidewalk enhancements and is working to develop a recreation complex. The town recently gave land for a football field for the project, he said.

He said the Lamar Library has already reached capacity in its use and is preparing for an expansion.

The group also heard from Vernita Dore of the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development Agency on services her agency offers rural communities and from Milton Smalls of Census 2010 on the importance of communities ensuring an accurate census count in next year’s census.

Federal funding to local communities is tied to population figures, and an accurate count can help ensure that communities get the funding to which they are entitled, he said.